It’s official: Jeremy Johnson to play at Lamar

Former Silsbee quarterback Jeremy Johnson will join the Lamar University football team for the 2011 season, the university announced today.

Johnson, a 2010 Silsbee graduate, began last season at West Virginia but left the school in midseason.

Recruiting website Rivals.com considered Johnson the nation’s No. 9-rated dual-threat quarterback in the country, and his addition at Lamar could give coach Ray Woodard the game-breaking offensive player his team needed last season.

Johnson led Silsbee to a District 21-3A championship his senior season, when he accounted for 32 touchdowns running and throwing. Johnson threw for 1,957 yards with 17 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and ran for 691 yards with 15 touchdowns.

Johnson ended his senior with scholarship offers from 11 major college football programs but picked West Virginia because it promised him a chance to play quarterback. Johnson did not play this season and left the team in midseason because of homesickness.

Johnson is thought to have many college options but is somewhat limited now by NCAA rules. Johnson would have to sit out another season if he transferred to a Football Bowl Subdivision school. Only at a school in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) or below could Johnson play in 2011.

Lamar is in the FCS.

Although listed as a quarterback, there is no guarantee Johnson will immediately play the position at Lamar. Woodard and offensive coordinator Todd Whitten will likely figure the best way to give Johnson to make plays on offense.

Former high school quarterbacks now at other positions include starting wide receiver Marcus Jackson and defensive backs Chad Allen and Payton Ploch. West Orange-Stark product Andre Bevil started Lamar’s first eight games at quarterback and moved to slot receiver for the last three games.